Ways to Narrow Down What You Want to Major In

Posted on 10/30/2017

Once you’ve decided that you want to further your education and get
a college degree, the next steps are choosing what college to attend and
what you want to major in. At first, you may seem overwhelmed by all of
the majors available to you. In fact, many students put off choosing a
major because they know they should get a degree but they don’t
know exactly what to get it in.

Be Practical

You’ll need to try to balance your interests with your skills and
dreams to choose the right major for you. While you might enjoy a hobby
like bird watching, you’ll probably find it won’t be very
lucrative as a career. Some students choose majors based on how much they
can make in their career, while others follow their passions and make
that into a job.

Do Your Research

If you’re looking at a college catalog with a large list of majors,
you might not even know what some of them really are. Even taking a couple
minutes to research each one will allow you to cross most of them off
the list and narrow them down to the ones you are actually interested.
Doing this may even help you find something you do like but weren’t
aware of the name of the major.

Meet with an Advisor

An academic advisor or career counselor can help you decide which major
might be best for you. There are a variety of assessments that can evaluate
what you like and are good at, which can help you narrow down a major
and career choice that would be great for you.

If you aren’t sure about what to major in, try these tips to at least
narrow it down to a few choices. If you change your mind later, you can
always change your major, although it may end up taking a bit more time
to graduate.